Week 11: What Happened?

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here is the recap for the week. I'll have the summary of yesterday's games up soon. Enjoy the holiday weekend!
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Morning Games:
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT BALTIMORE RAVENS:
Well, Payton Manning and the Colts remain undefeated after Sunday beating the Ravens 17-15. The Colts held the Ravens to 5 field goals and no touchdowns. The Colts still have a tough road ahead of them if they want to remain undefeated this season. They have to play the Houston Texan's strong offense on Sunday which should be a good AFC South Division matchup. The Colts have already solidified a playoff spot but only two other teams in league history have gone undefeated the whole season. The 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated in a 14 game schedule and won the Superbowl and the New England Patriots went undefeated two seasons ago but lost the Superbowl. (poor Tom Brady) With the way Payton and his Colts are playing there is a very good chance we might see another undefeated team this season.

What to say to a dude: 
"Did you see that fumble that Ravens defensive players Ed Reed and Ray Lewis caused? I wouldn’t want to be hit be one of them but it must have been ridiculously painful to be hit by both of them."

ATLANTA FALCONS AT NEW YORK GIANTS:
The Giants fought their little hearts out and won in overtime 34-31. The Giants were up 31-17 in the fourth quarter and Atlanta QB Matt Ryan threw two TD passes to tie up the game. Atlanta RB Jason Snelling, replacing All Pro RB Michael Turner, had two TDs in the game but the effort wasn’t quite enough. Eli Manning threw 3 TDs, two of which went to TE Kevin Boss (great name, right?) The Giants are still trying to get back on track after losing 4 games in a row and this exciting win should help them get some momentum going forward. Unfortunately they have a short week of rest and will be playing the Denver Broncos on Thanksgiving. The Atlanta Falcons don’t have much of a chance catching up to their division leaders, the undefeated Drew Brees and his New Orleans Saints, so they will be playing for a wildcard spot, a spot that will be hard to secure if they lose anymore games.

What to say to a dude: 
"The Giants and Eagles are 6-4 and the Cowboys are 7-3 in the NFC East Division, who do you think is the best team in the division? Who’s going to win the division?" 
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Afternoon Games:
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NEW YORK JETS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS:
In their first meeting this season both teams were playing completely different football, the Jets were playing great and the Patriots were playing terrible. Now the roles are reversed. The Patriots are coasting through the AFC East Division and the Jets are falling to the bottom of the division. Patriots WR Randy Moss was covered by cornerback Darrelle Revis so another WR, Wes Welker, had to step up and make plays. Welker had 15 catches for 192 yards, a monster game. On the other side of the football Rookie QB Mark Sanchez had 4 interceptions….not good at all. The Jets are now 4-6 after their great start and any more losses will pretty much put them out of playoff contention.

What to say to a dude: 
"Wes Welker is probably the best possession receiver in the league and Randy Moss is one of the best threats in the league. Tom Brady has the best of both worlds….plus he got to knock up Giselle." 

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS AT DENVER BRONCOS:
Well this game was not what it was supposed to be. The Chargers lost to the Broncos in the first meeting this season but they’ve won 5 straight since then. The Broncos started the season 6-0 but have now lost 4 straight games. The Broncos looked awful against the Chargers, only scoring 3 points the whole game. The Chargers didn’t need much offensive production to win this game and their kicker, Nate Kaeding, kicked 4 field goals in this game. The Chargers have solidified their place at the top of the AFC West division and the Broncos need a win against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving to stay close and keep their playoff hopes alive.

What to say to a dude: 
"The Broncos were hot before their bye week winning six straight games. After the bye week they have lost 4 straight….they must have lost their momentum with the week off."
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Sunday Night:
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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT CHICAGO BEARS:
Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears have lost another game. This team had such high hopes for the season but they are almost out of playoff contention these days. RB Matt Forte has had an incredibly disappointing season after such a great rookie campaign last year (he was drafted in the top 5 in most fantasy leagues) QB Donovan McNabb had help from rookie RB LeSean McCoy who was replacing Brian Westbrook who was benched after suffering his second concussion last week. WR Desean Jackson made some big plays as well to help the Eagles win. The Eagles need to keep winning to keep pace in the tough NFC East Division as the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys are all fighting for the top spot in the division.

What to say to a dude: 
"Jay Cutler needs a big play wide receiver. He has too many young receivers who drop passes, the Bears need to go after a free agent wide reciever that will help Cutler win some games."
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Monday Night:
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TENNESSEE TITANS AT HOUSTON TEXANS:
QB Vince Young and his Titans have won their 4th straight game after losing their first 6 games of the season. This was a hard fought game on both sides of the football. Texans QB Matt Schaub had another game of passing for over 300 yards and All Pro WR Andre Johnson made some big catches for him. Titans RB Chris Johnson ran for over 150 yards but wasn’t able to break any huge runs like we are used to seeing. He is still on pace for close to a 2000 yard season (a feat done by only 5 other Running Backs) Both of these teams deserved to win but in the end it was the team (Titans) who’s kicker made the field goal to win the game. Texans kicker Kris Brown (no, not Rhianna's ex) missed 2 clutch field goals this game.

What to say to a dude: 
"The only players to rush (run) for over 2000 yards in a season are : OJ Simpson, Erik Dickerson, Terrell Davis, Barry Sanders and Jamal Lewis. OJ did it when the season was only 14 games long, not 16 so he is in a class all by himself."

Other notes around the league:
- The Raiders upset the Bengals and won the game 20-17 behind QB Brad Gradkowski after the Raiders benched Jamarcus Russell.

- The Kansas City Chiefs upset the defending superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime winning the game 27-24.

- The New Orleans Saints remain undefeated after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-7

- Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings won again, they are now 9-1. Favre threw 4 TD passes.

- San Francisco 49er's WR Michael Crabtree caught his first TD pass this week!

Sunday in a Nutshell: Week 11

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Morning Games:

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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT BALTIMORE RAVENS:
Payton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts look to continue their undefeated season in Baltimore this week. Indianapolis has not lost a regular season game since Oct 27th 2008--that is an 18 game regular season winning streak, just three games shy of the record held by their arch enemy the New England Patriots. The Ravens want a win to keep pace with division leading Cincinnati Bengals. Look for Ravens RB Ray Rice (wow, such alliteration) to have a big day against the Colts defense. These two teams are not in the same division but there is a rivalry here since the Colts moved to Indianapolis from Baltimore. Remember our division talk? I have a feeling the Colts will stay undefeated after this weekend--Payton Manning is usually a safe bet. We know that now. 

ATLANTA FALCONS AT NEW YORK GIANTS:
Both of these teams have a 5-4 record (meaning 5 wins, 4 losses) and need a win to stay in the playoff race. The New York Giants started the season 5-0 but have lost their last 4 games. Way to be consistent, guys. This is "gut check time" (apparently meaning that it's time to look deep inside yourself in order to see if you have the guts to step it up a notch--or so I've been told) for Eli Manning and his New York Giants. The Falcons will have a tough time getting a win with RB Michael Turner on the sideline with an injury. RB Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood will try to replace this elite running back. On the Giants' side look for RB Brandon Jacobs, who has had a disappointing season so far, to have a big game on Sunday. This game will probably have as many highlights as Ryan Seacrest's hair. 
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Afternoon Games:

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NEW YORK JETS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS:
After that devastating last minute loss to the Colts last Sunday the Patriots want to bounce back with a win against their division rivals, the New York Jets. The Jets beat New England in Week 2 but New England is playing great football these days and the Jets are sputtering. No pun intended. Jets Head Coach and super villain Rex Ryan is trying any method possible to motivate his team, even shedding a few tears during a press conference. Sigh. He still has faith in his Rookie QB Mark Sanchez and his young and tough defense (and if we're going based on looks, I have faith in him, too). This will be a challenge for the Jets but they have stunned the Patriots before so lets see if they can do it again.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS AT DENVER BRONCOS:
Both of these teams are 6-3 and tied for 1st place in the AFC West. Denver beat the chargers in week 6 by a score of 34-23 but the Chargers have not lost a game since. The Chargers are playing great football and the Broncos are getting worried especially with their quarterback Kyle Orton having to leave the game last week with an injury and being questionable this week to play. If Orton doesn’t play back up, QB Chris Simms (son of Football Great Phil Simms) will get the start. Even though this game is in Denver, the Broncos will have a tough time beating the smokin' hot Chargers.
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Sunday Night:

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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT CHICAGO BEARS:
The Eagles are one game behind the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East division so they want a win to catch up. They will have to get this victory without All Pro RB Brian Westbrook who suffered his second concussion in the last 3 weeks against the Chargers last week. OUCH. QB Donovan McNabb will have to win this game with his arm this week for the Eagles. Look for WR Desean Jackson to make some big plays for the Eagles. On the other side the Chicago Bears are having a disappointing season. QB Gay Butler…ahem…Jay Cutler is the leading player in the league with 17 interceptions. (this is not a good category to lead the league in--kind of like having a high golf score. Not good.). Second year RB Matt Forte is having a disappointing season as well. If the Bears get a win they are not yet out of the runnings for the playoffs. This game doesn’t look that great on paper but just about every Sunday night game has been great and I don’t think this one will be any different.
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Monday Night:

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TENNESEE TITANS AT HOUSTON TEXANS:
This game doesn’t look too good on paper either. The Texans are 5-4 and the Titans are just 3-6…BUT this is going to be a good game. Both of these teams have big playmakers that should make some big plays on Monday night. Texans QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson should make some big plays down the field against a soft Titans defense. On the other side Titans RB Chris Johnson wants to have another big game and add to his league leading rushing yard total. He said that if he breaks 2000 yards this season (a total that only 5 players have done in a season) he would buy his offensive linemen a Mercedes each. The Titans are on a 3 game win streak and need to win the next seven games to have a shot at the playoffs. The Texans don’t have much of a chance to win their division as the Colts are up 4 games on them with 7 left so their hope is for a wildcard spot. This should be a Monday night game with some huge plays.

Stay tuned for some Defensive positions explained on Monday and this week's recap on Tuesday. Until next time...